Halton Hills mayor calls on Premier to advance mental health supports
Published June 20, 2022 at 1:14 pm
Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette has added his voice to the call from the Ontario Big City Mayors group, advocating to Premier Doug Ford for additional mental health supports.
According to statistics from the Halton Region Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, a total of 24 per cent of Ontarians have sought out mental health support, which is equivalent to a 17 per cent increase from last winter.
Out of those who have sought out these supports, almost one-third of them said they were not helpful.
“The pandemic has taken a toll on all of us,” said Bonnette.
“But layer on to that, those who were already struggling – be it from managing at home childcare and education to elder care to business ownership or job loss, seeking affordable housing or feelings of isolation and the toll is enormous.”
While the responsibility for social service support such as mental health does not lie with the local municipality, the Mayor says it is the communities that see the impact first-hand.
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“I can tell you, that I hear from people all the time, about the challenges they face and the struggles they are enduring. Mental health is not geography-specific, it is not wealth or gender-specific,” said Bonnette.
“This is an across-the-board issue that requires our government to invest and advance the locally available supports for the good of all people.”
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